New EU registrations in May 2020: Despite the upturn, still big minus

D he widespread lockdown in Europe is over, which is also noticeable on the new car market. As reported by the Association of European Automobile Manufacturers (ACEA), 581,161 new cars were brought onto the European market in May 2020. Although that is already significantly more cars than in the previous month, the figures are still clearly behind the result from May 2019. Compared to the 1,217,259 new car registrations reported at the time, the decrease is 52.3 percent. In the course of the year to date, the registration statistics still show a fat minus. In the first five months of 2020, 3,331,715 cars were brought onto the market for the first time, 41.5 percent less than a year ago.

Volume markets with sharp falls

Correspondingly the overall result also includes the results of the individual volume markets. In May, 168,148 new passenger cars were registered in Germany. The minus compared to the previous year is 49.5 percent. France has 96,310 new registrations and a decrease of 50.3 percent. Italy reported 99,711 new car registrations in May, 49.6 percent below the previous year. May brought only 34,377 new registrations in Spain. The minus is a whopping 72.7 percent. Only ex-EU member Great Britain was hit even harder. Only 20,247 new car registrations were registered here in May, the minus is an unbelievable 89 percent.

All brands lose double digits

When viewed by brand, this shows up across the board for all manufacturers in May high double-digit losses compared to the previous year. The VW group is losing 52.4 percent, Smart even by 90 percent. Correspondingly, there are also shifts in the distribution of market shares. The Volkswagen Group remains the market leader with a 25 percent market share. VW defends its title as the strongest single brand with 11.2 percent. Renault (7.6%), Peugeot (6.7%), Mercedes (6.0%), Fiat (5.4%), Skoda and Audi (each with 5.2%), Toyota and Ford (each with 5.1%), BMW (4.9%), Citroën (4.6%), Dacia (4.2%), Opel (4.0%), Hyundai (3.5%), Kia (3.4%) and Seat with a May market share of 2.8 percent.